Micromachines, which are also referred to as micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) is an emerging technology that uses the tools and techniques, which were developed for the integrated circuit industry, to build microscopic machines. These machines, which are generally considered to be between 100 nanometers to 100 micrometers in size, are typically built on standard silicon wafers. The advantage of this technology is that many machines can be built at the same time across the surface of the wafer, and the processes used to fabricate these devices employ the same type of lithographic processes used to fabricate integrated circuits. These tiny machines are becoming ubiquitous and quickly finding their way into a variety of commercial and defense applications.
As with any type of manufacturing effort, particularly as the sizes at which these devices are made, overall product quality, uniformity, and yield are important industry goals.